The 2025 Vikings offensive line is bigger and better.
That's not a news break or even a hot take – rather, it's a post-free agency-and-draft observation that was bolded in separate articles this week from Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman and Andrew Ites.
Minnesota did in fact get bigger – and better, ideally – up front, acquiring former Colts teammates Ryan Kelly and Will Fries in March and selecting Donovan Jackson with the 24th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The moves led Ites to identifying the Vikings as having one of the most improved offensive lines. As evidence, he cited an impressive five-game stretch for Fries before he suffered a fractured tibia in his third season as a starter and fourth overall, back-to-back strong years for Kelly and Jackson's versatility.
Ites used 2024 PFF grades to support his judgment.
From left-to-right, the Vikings could field a starting five of Christian Darrisaw, Jackson, Kelly, Fries and Brian O'Neill. Before suffering his own season-ending injury, Darrisaw compiled an 81.4 overall grade that ranked 11th out of 81 offensive tackles; Jackson, obviously, doesn't have an NFL score, yet, but was solid in college (four seasons at or above 68.5); Kelly's 67.0 mark in 10 contests was good for 11th out of 40 centers; Fries had an 86.9 grade before he got hurt; and O'Neill logged a 79.3 score, 16th for tackles.
Ites also applauded the jobs done by front offices for Chicago, New England, Washington and Jacksonville to beef up and upgrade their offensive fronts. Check out the rest of Ites' evaluations here.
As previously noted, PFF's praise didn't stop there.
Wasserman on Tuesday shared one big takeaway for each NFL club and suggested Minnesota is home to a potentially elite offensive line; not trading down and selecting Jackson, he said, solidified a unit that'll likely be charged with protecting 2024 No. 10 overall pick J.J. McCarthy. Wasserman wrote the following:
If the goal is to give McCarthy a stable foundation up front, the Vikings are well on their way. Before Christian Darrisaw's season-ending injury in Week 8 last year, Minnesota's offensive line ranked sixth in the NFL in overall grade. With Jackson joining veterans Ryan Kelly and Will Fries on the interior, the Vikings could field one of the league's better starting fives, assuming Darrisaw returns to full health.
Regarding the NFC North, Wasserman noted that Bears quarterback Caleb Williams' life should get a lot easier; that the culture of toughness is continuing in Detroit; and the Packers increased their speed on offense.
Read all of Wasserman's takeaways here.
Bucky's top pass-catching groups
NFL Media's Bucky Brooks was a standout receiver at North Carolina in the early '90s. A second-round draft pick in 1994, Brooks wound up flipping sides to guard his former position across four NFL seasons.
It's a long-winded way to say: the player-turned-analyst has a unique vantage point of receiving talent.
Accordingly, it caught our eye when Brooks released a ranking of his top pass-catching groups last week.
Brooks led his list with Cincinnati wideouts Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and tight end Mike Gesicki, imploring that the Bengals are loaded with the offensive firepower to match any opponent in a shootout.
To his point, Chase posted 127 catches for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2024, becoming the 13th player in history, and only the third since the turn of the century, to win the NFL receiving Triple Crown. Higgins, touted by Brooks as the "most feared WR2," averaged 75.9 receiving yards per game a year ago, and Gesicki recorded 665 yards on 65 receptions, which were top-10 marks among his tight end peers.
Brooks pegged Philadelphia next thanks to its foursome of WR A.J. Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, WR Jahan Dotson and TE Dallas Goedert – all beneficiaries of running back Saquon Barkley's influence on defenses.
"Philadelphia has utilized every acquisition method (draft, trade and free agency) to stockpile blue-chip playmakers," Brooks assessed here. "Despite their best efforts, few defenses have been able to neutralize the Eagles aerial attack with Jalen Hurts tossing the ball all over the yard to a collection of sticky-fingered pass catchers with slick route-running skills and big-play potential on the perimeter."
Alas, we've reached the best pass-catching group (in our naturally biased opinion, at least).
Brooks ranked Minnesota third on his hierarchy, shouting out Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson as key pieces to Sam Darnold's career resurrection in 2024, and McCarthy's 2025 debut.
Brooks explained that the "sensational route-running ability of Jefferson and Addison enabled Head Coach Kevin O'Connell to tap into his creative side," and added that while Hockenson "lacks the pizzazz of his pass-catching brethren," he is the "reliable target every quarterback needs between the hashes."
Granted their names don't carry the same gravitas as the aforementioned trio, the Vikings offense also features more-than-capable receivers in Jalen Nailor, Josh Oliver and Aaron Jones, Sr. Rookie WR Tai Felton, a third-rounder out of Maryland, has potential to make an impact in Minnesota's offense, as well.
Nailor and Oliver enjoyed breakthroughs in 2024, and Jones continued what he's done since entering the NFL; dating to 2017, he's fifth among running backs in catches (323) and fourth in receiving yards (2,484).
Brooks completed his eight-team ranking with the Buccaneers, Rams, Lions, Dolphins and Cowboys.
